Three Steps To Greatly Increase Your Patience
Patience is a characteristic we could all learn. In my professional career I have met some impatient people. I also have met some patient ones. In my opinion the ones who have more patience get farther, have more successes, seem happier and less stressful, and overall enjoy better lives. Doesn’t that sound great?
I don’t know if some of us are born with it or maybe if we learn it at some point in our lives. Myself, I was the most impatient teenager you could find. I remember being told literally hundreds of times, by lots of different people. As I grew older I learned patience and honestly I am very happy I did. I think I have enough patience to watch grass grow. LOL, but I do have a lot now.
Anyways, here is my take on patience, a three step strategy I developed for you to get you started, some great tips and advice, and lastly I’ll leave you with some great quotes. Enjoy and Good Luck!
What exactly is patience?
Wikipedia defines patience as a state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the fact of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties.
Basically patience is endurance when there is some sort of challenge being face without being negative. A typical example would be someone who doesn’t have time to wait so their challenge being time and not waiting, possibly getting angry, would be their negative.
Step One: Figure Out What is Making You Impatient
The first step to shedding those impatient traits and replacing them with a new level of patience is figuring out what is causing you to be impatient. Most of the time it tends to be excitement about something, someone, an event, the future, etc. This excitement builds until we can’t control ourselves and we start wanting the results right away.
Another big cause of impatience is busy schedule and lack of time. It can be hard to find endurance when the clock is ticking and you have a full plate of things to do.
Find out what your triggers are and how strong each of them are. Some may just cause you a little and others may make you angry in an instant. Do you know a particular person who you don’t have any patience for? What about a place you can’t stand to be at? EX: Long lines at the grocery store. Find the patterns of things that are causing you to feel that way and move on to step two.
Step Two: Make A Plan
Once you have figured out what is your cause then it’s time to do something about it. Make a plan and preferably write it down on paper. I found that by writing something down you have a much higher chance of learning and remembering it.
Rate all of the triggers on a scale from 1 to 5 with five being the worst. Take some time for creative thinking to figure out ways to either avoid, accept, or limit the exposure to the worst things on your list. Accepting is probably my favorite way to deal with impatient feelings. When you are able to accept something for how it is, it no longer has the control over you and your feelings. If you want to learn more on accepting things read this article by me.
Put some short and long term goals down on your paper. Make out a time frame to get some of the smaller tasks done. Whatever you do, don’t try to tackle everything at once. You can break larger goals down into smaller ones.
Step 3: Take The Right Action
Now that you have some direction to go in it’s time to do something about it. I would suggest starting with some easier stuff first. Once you get the momentum going you will feel like you can accomplish more. The trick to getting patience is taking baby steps and work on it everyday.
As long as you make progress you will feel the change. Also, you may not be able to gain unlimited patience as there will always be some triggers you can’t get rid of. You must however, work hard toward this at all times. If something is starting to work your nerves up catch it in the heat of the moment and shoot it down. Don’t wait until you are already angry and frustrated to address an issue.
Getting lost in the moment is a great strategy to help ease some of those impatient moments. If you are standing in line at the store and it’s taking forever, then why not sing a song in your head or possibly just take a few deep breaths and try to relax. Little tricks you make for yourself will be the winning edge you need when you are standing there trying to be patient.
Think about each little moment as a battle. It might be a tie and all it takes is one good or bad thought to win either way. Listed below are some great tips to help you win those battles and take back your patience.
Some Great Tips To Help You Achieve Greater Patience
- Stay Positive
- Expect The Unexpected
- Remember That Everyone Handles Things Differently – Just because you do things a certain way doesn’t mean that others will or have the same motivation as you. Everyone works at different speeds and on different thought levels. If you rush someone you probably will lower their quality and bring more stress into their lives.
- Know Your Long Term Goals – You will get what you want eventually. Keep your goals in mind and work toward them as much as you can. Don’t rush success.
- Some Things Will Take Time – Rome wasn’t built in a day!
- Remember What Really Matters – So what if you got a flat tire. Think about what you have to go home to. The’re many people who have much less than you do.
- Live In The Now – Take the time to stop and smell the roses.
- Make Some Time To Relax and Possibly Meditate – Enjoy a moment of silence and peace where you can set back and let worries slip away. Make sure you don’t have anything to do afterwords or you give yourself plenty of time to enjoy your moment.
Quotes On Patience
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
Aristotle“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
Benjamin Franklin“Why is patience so important?”
“Because it makes us pay attention.”
Paulo Coelho“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace“Patience is passion tamed.”
Abbott, Lyman“Slow and steady wins the race.”
Aesop